United Kingdom of Great Britain
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.The United Kingdom of Great Britian and Northern Ireland started off only as the Kingdom of England from 927 to 1707 AD a sovereign state to the northwest of continental Europe. At its height, the Kingdom of England spanned the southern two-thirds of the island of Great Britain (Including both Modern Day England and Wales) and several smaller outlying islands; what today comprises the legal jurisdiction of England and Wales. It had a land border with the Kingdom of Scotland to the north. At the start of the period its capitol and chief royal residence was Winchester but Westminster and Gloucester were accorded almost equal status, with Westminster gradually gaining preference. England as a nation state began on 12 July 927 AD after a gathering of kings from throughout Britain at Eamont Bridge, Cumbria, but broadly traces its origins to the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain and the Heptarchy of petty states that followed and ultimately united. The Norman invasion of Wales from 1067–1283 (formalised with the Statute of Rhuddlan in 1284) put Wales in England's control, and Wales came under English law with the Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542. The Kingdom of Great Britain (also referred to as the United Kingdom of Great Britain) was a sovereign state in northwest Europe, in existence from 1707 to 1801. It came into being on 1 May 1707, with the political union of the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England (which included Wales and Cornwall). With the 1706 Treaty of Union (ratified by the Acts of Union 1707), it was agreed to create a single, united kingdom, encompassing the whole of the island of Great Britain and its minor outlying islands, excluding Ireland, which remained a separate jurisdiction under the British crown. A single parliament and government, based at Westminster, controlled the new kingdom. The kingdoms had already shared the same monarch since James VI, King of Scots became King of England in 1603 following the death of Queen Elizabeth I, bringing about a "Union of the Crowns". The Kingdom of Great Britain was superseded by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland on 1 January 1801, when Great Britain was united with the Kingdom of Ireland by the Acts of Union of 1800 following the suppression of the Irish Rebellion of 1798. Most of Ireland left the union in 1922, leading to another re-naming of the state in 1927, as the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland]. These subsequent British states are direct continuations of the Kingdom of Great Britain (albeit with territorial changes), and therefore are not generally considered successor states. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain) is a sovereign state located off the north-western coast of continental Europe. The country includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. Apart from this land border the UK is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the English Channel and the Irish Sea. The United Kingdom is a unitary state governed under a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary system, with its seat of government in the capital city of London. It is a country in its own right and consists of four countries: England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. There are three devolved national administrations, each with varying powers, situated in Belfast, Cardiff and Edinburgh; the capitals of Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland respectively. Associated with the UK, but not constitutionally part of it, are three Crown Dependencies and fourteen overseas territories. These are remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in 1922, encompassed almost a quarter of the world's land surface and was the largest empire in history. British influence can still be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former territories. The UK is a developed country and has the world's sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and seventh-largest economy by purchasing power parity. It was the world's first industrialised country and the world's foremost power during the 19th and early 20th centuries. The UK remains a great power with leading economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence. It is a recognised nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks third or fourth in the world. It is a member state of the European Union, a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, and a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, the G8, the G20, the OECD, the Council of Europe, the World Trade Organization and NATO. The name "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland" was introduced in 1927 by the Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act to reflect the granting of independence to the Irish Free State in 1922, which left Northern Ireland as the only part of the island of Ireland still within the UK.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom#cite_note-25Prior to this, the Acts of Union 1800, that led to the uniting the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland in 1801, had given the new state the name of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Great Britain before 1801 is occasionally referred to as the "United Kingdom of Great Britain". However, Section 1 of both of the 1707 Acts of Union declare that England and Scotland are "United into One Kingdom by the Name of Great Britain". The term united kingdom is found in informal use during the 18th century to describe the new state but only became official with the union with Ireland in 1801. Although the United Kingdom, as a sovereign state, is a country, England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are also referred to as countries, whether or not they are sovereign states or have devolved or other self-government.The British Prime Minister's website has used the phrase "countries within a country" to describe the United Kingdom. With regard to Northern Ireland, the descriptive name used "can be controversial, with the choice often revealing one's political preferences." Other terms used for Northern Ireland include "region" and "province". The United Kingdom is often referred to by the short-form name of Britain, a case of pars pro toto. Great Britain refers only to England, Scotland and Wales, and, particularly in the UK, is not favoured as an alternative name for the United Kingdom. However, some foreign usage, particularly in the United States, uses Great Britain as a loose synonym for the United Kingdom. In addition, in the UK and elsewhere, Britain is also sometimes used as an abbreviation for Great Britain, meaning only England, Scotland and Wales. The adjective British is commonly used to refer to matters relating to the United Kingdom. Although the term has no definite legal connotation, it is used in legislation to refer to United Kingdom citizenship. However, British people use a number of different terms to describe their national identity. Some may identify themselves as British only, or British and English, Scottish, Welsh, or Northern Irish. Others may identify themselves as only English, Scottish, Welsh or Northern Irish and not British. In Northern Ireland, some describe themselves as only Irish. ''Formation of the Kingdom of England The Kingdom of England has no specific founding date. The Kingdom originated in the kingdoms of the ancestral English, the Anglo-Saxons, which were carved out of the former Roman province of Britannia. The minor kingdoms in time coalesced into the seven famous kingdoms known as the Heptarchy: East Anglia, Mercia, Northumbria, Kent, Essex, Sussex and Wessex. The Viking invasions shattered the pattern of the English kingdoms. The English lands were finally unified in the 10th century in a reconquest completed by King Athelstan in AD 927. The Anglo-Saxons knew themselves as the ''Angelcynn, Englisc or Engle. These names were originally names from the Engla, or Angles, but came to be used by Saxons, Jutes and Frisii alike. They called their lands Engla land, meaing "Land of the Angles" (and when unified also Engla rice; "the Kingdom of the English"). In time Englaland became England. During the Heptarchy, the most powerful King among the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms might become acknowledged as Bretwalda, a high king over the other kings. The decline of Mercia allowed Wessex to become more powerful. It absorbed the kingdoms of Kent and Sussex in 825 AD. The Kings of Wessex became increasingly dominant over the other kingdoms of England during the 9th century. In 827 AD, Northumbria submitted to Egbert of Wessex at Dore. It has been claimed that Egbert thereby became the first king to reign over a united England, however briefly. In 886, King Alfred retook London, which he apparently regarded as a turning point in his reign. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle says that "all of the English people (all Angelcyn) not subject to the Danes submitted themselves to King Alfred."[3] Asser added that "Alfred, king of the Anglo-Saxons, restored the city of London splendidly ... and made it habitable once more."[4] Alfred's "restoration" entailed reoccupying and refurbishing the nearly deserted Roman walled city, building quays along the Thames, and laying a new city street plan.[5] It is probably at this point that Alfred assumed the new royal style 'King of the Anglo-Saxons.' During the following years Northumbria repeatedly changed hands between the English kings and the Norwegian invaders, but was definitively brought under English control by King Edred in 954 AD, completing the unification of England. At about this time, Lothian, the northern part of Northumbria, was ceded to the Kingdom of Scotland. England has remained in political unity ever since. During the reign of Ethelred II (who reigned 978–1016)—known to posterity as Ethelred the Unready—a new wave of Danish invasions was orchestrated by Sweyn I of Denmark, culminating after a quarter of a century of warfare in the Danish conquest of England in 1013 AD. But Sweyn died on 2 February 1014 and Ethelred was restored to the throne. In 1015, Sweyn's son King Canute launched a new invasion. The ensuing war ended with an agreement in 1016 between Canute and Ethelred's successor, Edmund Ironside, to divide England between them, but Edmund's death on 30 November of that year left England united under Danish rule. This continued for 26 years until the death of Harthacanute in June 1042. He was the son of Canute and Emma of Normandy (the widow of Ethelred the Unready), and had no heirs of his own; he was succeeded by his half-brother, Ethelred's son, Edward the Confessor. The Kingdom of England was once again independent. ''English Civil War'' The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians (Roundheads) and Royalists (Cavaliers). The first (1642–46) and second (1648–49) civil wars pitted the supporters of King Charles I against the supporters of the Long Parliament, while the third war (1649–51) saw fighting between supporters of King Charles II and supporters of the Rump Parliament. The Civil War ended with the Parliamentary victory at the Battle of Worcester on 3 September 1651. The Civil War led to the trial and execution of Charles I, the exile of his son, Charles II, and replacement of English monarchy with first, the Commonwealth of England (1649–53), and then with a Protectorate (1653–59), under Oliver Cromwell's personal rule. The monopoly of the Church of England on Christian worship in England ended with the victors consolidating the established Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland. Constitutionally, the wars established the precedent that an English monarch cannot govern without Parliament's consent, although this concept was legally established only with the Glorious Revolution later in the century. The Kings Rule War broke out less than forty years after the death of Elizabeth I in 1603. At the accession of Charles I in 1625, England and Scotland had both experienced relative peace, both internally and in their relations with each other, for as long as anyone could remember. Charles hoped to unite the kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland into a new single kingdom, fulfilling the dream of his father, James I of England (James VI of Scotland). Many English Parliamentarians had suspicions regarding such a move, because they feared that setting up a new kingdom might destroy the old English traditions which had bound the English monarchy. As Charles shared his father's position on the power of the crown (James had described kings as "little Gods on Earth", chosen by God to rule in accordance with the doctrine of the "Divine Right of Kings"), the suspicions of the Parliamentarians had some justification. Parliament in the English constitutional framework Before the fighting, the Parliament of England did not have a large permanent role in the English system of government, functioning as a temporary advisory committee, summoned by the monarch whenever the Crown required additional tax revenue, and subject to dissolution by the monarch at any time. Because responsibility for collecting taxes lay in the hands of the gentry, the English kings needed the help of that stratum of society in order to ensure the smooth collection of that revenue. If the gentry refused to collect the King's taxes, the Crown would lack any practical means with which to compel them. Parliaments allowed representatives of the gentry to meet, confer and send policy-proposals to the monarch in the form of Bills. These representatives did not, however, have any means of forcing their will upon the king—except by withholding the financial means required to execute his plans. Parliamentary concerns and the Petition of Right One of the first events to raise concerns over Charles's reign was his marriage to a French Roman Catholic princess, Henrietta-Marie de Bourbon, in 1625, directly after ascending to the throne. Charles's marriage raised the possibility that his children, including the heir to the throne, might grow up as Catholics, an alarming prospect to Protestant England. Charles set his sights on taking part in the conflicts which Europe was undergoing in the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648).Foreign wars necessitated heavy expenditures, and the Crown could raise taxes only through Parliamentary consent (described above). Charles experienced further financial difficulty when his first Parliament refused to assign him the traditional right to collect customs duties for his entire reign, deciding instead to grant it only on a provisional basis. Charles, meanwhile, pressed ahead with his European wars, deciding to send an expeditionary force to relieve the French Huguenots whom Royal French forces held besieged in La Rochelle. Military support for Protestants on the Continent was, in itself, popular both in Parliament and with the Protestant majority in general, and it had the potential to alleviate concerns brought about by the King's Catholic marriage. However, Charles's insistence on having his unpopular royal favourite George Villiers, the Duke of Buckingham assume command of the English force undermined that support. Unfortunately for Charles and Buckingham, the relief expedition proved a fiasco (1627), and Parliament, already hostile to Buckingham for his monopoly on royal patronage, opened impeachment proceedings against him. Charles responded by dissolving Parliament. This move, while saving Buckingham, reinforced the impression that Charles wanted to avoid Parliamentary scrutiny of his ministers. Having dissolved Parliament and unable to raise money without it, the king assembled a new one in 1628. (The elected members included Oliver Cromwell.) The new Parliament drew up the Petition of Right, and Charles accepted it as a concession in order to obtain his subsidy. Amongst other things, the Petition referred to the Magna Carta. ''Kingdom of Scotland The Kingdom of Scotland was united in 843 by ﻿King Cináed I of Scotland, who unified the territories of the Scots and the Picts, establishing his kingdom as the territory north of the Clyde and Forth. Other nearby parts remained independent from Scotland, such as the Kingdom of Strathclyde ruled by the Brython. In addition to this, the area which is today known as the Lothian and Borders, including Edinburgh belonged from around 638 to the Angles of the kingdom of Bernicia, then the Kingdom of Northumbria, and then the Kingdom of England. According to William of Malmesbury, king Edgar of England ceded Lothian to Scotland in exchange for a renewed oath of fealty,[3] expanding the Kingdom of Scotland as far south as the River Tweed. This remains the south-eastern border to this day (except around Berwick-upon-Tweed). ''Scotland & Others '' In 1263, Scotland fought Norway for control over the Western Isles at the Battle of Largs. The battle was indecisive, but the campaign proved once and for all that the Norse were unable to retain effective control over the distant Isles. In 1266, the Norwegian king Magnus VI of Norway signed the Treaty of Perth, which acknowledged Scottish suzerainty over the islands. Despite the treaty the practical independence of the Lord of the Isles continued. ''Auld Alliance The Auld Alliance was an important alliance between Scotland and France. It dates from the treaty signed by John Balliol and Philip IV of France in 1295. It played a varying but sometimes large role in Franco-Scottish (and English) affairs, until 1560. In 1512 under a treaty extending the Auld Alliance, all nationals of Scotland or France also became nationals of the other country, a status not repealed in France until 1903 and which may never have been repealed in Scotland. ''King of Scots'' Scotland's kings placed great importance on the strategic stronghold of Stirling, leading to the battles of Stirling Bridge and Bannockburn during the Wars of Scottish Independence, when the historic figures of William Wallace and Robert the Bruce emerged. In 1320 a remonstrance to the Pope from the nobles of Scotland (the Declaration of Arbroath) finally convinced Pope John XXII to overturn the earlier excommunication and nullify the various acts of submission by Scottish kings to English ones so that Scotland's sovereignty should again be recognised by the major European dynasties. ''The Northern Isles'' n 1468 the last great acquisition of Scottish territory occurred when James III married Margaret of Denmark, receiving the Norwegian territories of Orkney Islands and the Shetland Islands in payment of her dowry and in 1493 his son, James IV, successfully ended the quasi-independent rule of the Lord of the Isles, bringing the Western Isles under effective Royal control for the first time. ''Kingdom of Great Britain The Treaty of Union and the subsequent Acts of Union themselves state explicitly that the name of the new kingdom is to be ''Great Britain. Both the Treaty of Union agreed between England and Scotland on 22 July 1706 and the Union with England Act also refer to the new state as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and also as the United Kingdom, although not as the name of the new state. This approach is adopted by the websites of the UK parliament and the Scottish parliament which both refer to the state created on 1 May 1707, as the "United Kingdom of Great Britain". Some prefer to refer to 'Great Britain' as the "United Kingdom of Great Britain" or just the "United Kingdom" for purposes of continuity, particularly in the military and colonial spheres. At the time of the Act of Union 1800, which plainly gave the successor state the name "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland", the British were embroiled in the Great French War, and the British Empire included many colonies in North America, India, and Australia. Some who otherwise prefer the term "Great Britain" use "United Kingdom" when there is continuity with the subsequent "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland", avoiding using two very different names for a single military and colonial power. Historians generally prefer to continue to describe the state as 'Great Britain' or the 'Kingdom of Great Britain', arguing that the word "United" in the Acts was only an adjective and that the term United Kingdom only came into general usage with the Act of Union 1800, when it was intended to emphasize Union with Ireland. While the Historical Association stated in The Times in 2006 that "The United Kingdom did not come into being until 1800, with the Act of Union with Ireland," its own website later referred to The Creation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. Indeed, in 1927 the departure of Southern Ireland from the United Kingdom five years before was recognized by the style of the British sovereign being changed, removing from it the term "United Kingdom". This was not reinstated until 1953. ''Kingdom of Ireland The papal bull ''Laudabiliter of Pope Adrian IV was decreed in 1155. It granted the Angevin King Henry II of England who ruled from Anjou in France, the title Dominus Hibernae. Laudabiliter enabled the king to invade Ireland, in order to bring the country into the European sphere. In return, Henry was required to remit a penny per hearth of the tax roll to the Pope. This was reconfirmed by Adrian's successor Pope Alexander III in 1172. When Pope Clement VII excommunicated the King of England, Henry VIII, in 1533, the constitutional position of the lordship in Ireland became uncertain. Henry had broken away from the Holy See and declared himself the head of the Church in England. He had petitioned Rome in order to procure an annulment of his marriage to Queen Catherine. Clement VII refused Henry's request because of political circumstances; the Papal States at this time were under the heel of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, Catherine's nephew, who would not have tolerated an annulment. Henry subsequently refused to recognize the Roman Catholic Church's vestigial sovereignty over Ireland, and was excommunicated again in late 1538 by Pope Paul III. The Treason Act (Ireland) 1537 was passed to counteract this. Following the failed revolt of Silken Thomas in 1534-35, Grey, the lord deputy, had some military successes against several clans in the late 1530s, and took their submissions. By 1540 most of Ireland seemed at peace and under the control of the king's Dublin administration; a situation that was not to last for long. Henry was proclaimed King of Ireland by the Crown of Ireland Act 1542. The Act was passed by the Irish Parliament. The new kingdom was not recognized by the Catholic monarchies in Europe. After the death of King Edward VI, Henry's son, the papal bull of 1555 recognised the Roman Catholic Queen Mary I as Queen of Ireland.[4] The link of "personal union" of the Crown of Ireland to the Crown of England became enshrined in Catholic canon law. In this fashion, the Kingdom of Ireland was ruled by the reigning King of England. This placed the new Kingdom of Ireland in personal union with the Kingdom of England. In line with its expanded role and self-image, the administration established the King's Inns for barristers in 1541, and the Ulster King of Arms to regulate heraldry in 1552. Proposals to establish a university in Dublin were delayed until 1592. In 1603 James VI King of Scots, became James I of England, uniting the Kingdoms of England, Scotland and Ireland in a personal union. In 1653-59 the three kingdoms were merged briefly into the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland. In 1660 Charles II of England was restored as King of Ireland without any public dissent, backdated to his father's execution in 1649 (see: Irish Restoration). Political union between England and Scotland was established in 1707 with the creation of the Kingdom of Great Britain and therefter, in 1801, the Kingdom of Ireland merged with the Kingdom of Great Britain to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name of the United Kingdom from 1 January 1801 until 12 April 1927. It was formed by the merger of the Kingdom of Great Britain (itself having been a merger of the Kingdoms of England and Scotland) and the Kingdom of Ireland, with Ireland being governed directly from Westminster through its Dublin Castle administration. Following partial Irish independence on 6 December 1922, when the 1921 Anglo-Irish Treaty came into effect, the name continued in official use until it was changed to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland by the Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act of 1927. The current British state is a direct continuation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (albeit having lost territory), and therefore is not generally considered a successor state. ''The United Kingdom'' The merger was initially seen favourably in Ireland, if only due to the fact that the old Irish parliament was seen as hostile to the majority Catholic population, some of whose members had only been given the vote as late as 1794 and who were legally debarred from election to the body. The Roman Catholic hierarchy endorsed the Union. However, King George III's decision to block Catholic Emancipation fatally undermined the appeal of the Union. Leaders like Henry Grattan, who sat in the new parliament, having been leading members of the old one, were bitterly critical. The eventual achievement of Catholic Emancipation in 1829, following a campaign by Daniel O'Connell, MP for County Clare, who had won election to Westminster and who could not for religious beliefs take the Oath of Supremacy, removed the main negative that had undermined the appeal of the old parliament, the exclusion of Catholics. From 1829 on, the demand for a native Irish parliament separate from Westminster grew. ''Irish Home-rule'' Figures such as Isaac Butt and Charles Stewart Parnell, the first leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party, campaigned for a version of all-Ireland self-government called home rule within the United Kingdom, which was nearly achieved in the 1880s under the Prime Ministry of William Ewart Gladstone who introduced two Irish Home Rule Bills, making a pleading Home Rule Speech in 1886. However, the measures were defeated in Parliament, and following the ascension of the Conservatives to the majority, the issue was buried as long as that party was in power. With the return to power of the Liberals in 1910 general election supported by the Irish Party under John Redmond who now held the balance of power in the Commons, the veto power of the Lords was removed under the Parliament Act 1911 and a Home Rule Bill introduced in 1912 passed Parliament as the Third Home Rule Act in 1914, but was temporarily suspended for the duration of World War I. However the constant delaying of Home Rule and the opposition of the Orange Order in Ulster created the frustration that eventually led to political violence and the 1916 Easter Rising. An attempt to introduce Irish self-government was made by PM Lloyd George in 1917 when he called an Irish Convention which after six months deliberating failed to agree on the inclusion or exclusion of Ulster. The European situation with the threat of conscription changed the political climate such that in the 1918 general election, the Irish Party lost most of its seats to the new Sinn Féin party. Break down of the Union In 1919, Sinn Féin MPs elected to Westminster formed a unilaterally independent Irish parliament in Dublin, the first Dáil Éireann with an executive under the President of Dáil Éireann, Éamon de Valera. A War of Independence was fought between 1919 and 1921. The island of Ireland was partitioned on 3 May 1921 under the Government of Ireland Act 1920 into two distinct autonomous United Kingdom regions, Northern Ireland and the short-lived Southern Ireland. On 6 December 1922, a year after the Anglo-Irish Treaty was signed, the entire island of Ireland seceded from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and formed a new Dominion, the Irish Free State. However, as was widely expected, Northern Ireland almost immediately exercised its right under the Anglo-Irish Treaty, to opt out of the Irish Free State and back into the United Kingdom. With that, the Irish border became an international frontier. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland continued in name until 1927 when it was renamed as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland by the Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act 1927. ''Northern Ireland Opts to return to the Union'' he Treaty was given effect in the United Kingdom through the Irish Free State Constitution Act 1922. That Act established a new Dominion for the whole island of Ireland but also allowed Northern Ireland to opt out. Under Article 12 of the Treaty, Northern Ireland could exercise its opt out by presenting an address to the King requesting not to be part of the Irish Free State. Once the Treaty was ratified, the Houses of Parliament of Northern Ireland had one month to exercise this opt out during which month the Irish Free State Government could not legislate for Northern Ireland, holding the Free State’s effective jurisdiction in abeyance for a month. ''United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland The '''United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland' (commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain) is a sovereign state located off the north-western coast of continental Europe. The country includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. Apart from this land border the UK is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the English Channel and the Irish Sea. The United Kingdom is a unitary state governed under a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary system, with its seat of government in the capital city of London. It is a country in its own right and consists of four countries: England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. There are three devolved national administrations, each with varying powers, situated in Belfast, Cardiff and Edinburgh; the capitals of Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland respectively. Associated with the UK, but not constitutionally part of it, are three Crown Dependencies and fourteen overseas territories. These are remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in 1922, encompassed almost a quarter of the world's land surface and was the largest empire in history. British influence can still be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former territories. The UK is a developed country and has the world's sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and seventh-largest economy by purchasing power parity. It was the world's first industrialised country and the world's foremost power during the 19th and early 20th centuries. The UK remains a great power with leading economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence. It is a recognised nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks third or fourth in the world. It is a member state of the European Union, a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, and a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, the G8, the G20, the OECD, the Council of Europe, the World Trade Organization and NATO. ''United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in the 22nd Century Infomation Pending........ ''Military Divisions During the 22nd Century The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland became more famous due to its advance in tech, where once it was known for its past, it became even more known with the contruction of the SR-1 Series battle Ship Class, designed to for during the height of the First-Contact War against the Galactic Republic. The British had to put their Battle Ships into Mass-Production for American and British Force's to engage the Republic Force's off-world, the NATO Force's at that time where almost removed from the World due to the differant needs that Earth started to produce, War itself was another reason to why NATO was falling into the Darkness of History. The British Armed Force's of the 22nd Century consist of; *British Space Division *British Royal Air-Force *British Armed Force's *British Royal Marines *The British Royal Navy *The British Space Marine Corps *The British Colonial Marine Corps Due to the advance in Weapons and new Laws which Britain was bringing in, they made their relations with the United State's more intresting, and the combine might of the New British Force's made the American Force's begin to look small, which forced the U.S to increase. During the Height of the First-Contact War, the British Army was the first into the Conflict due to the new SR-1 Series Battle Ships being made. ''Relations with the EUDF After the End of the First Contact War, the British and American Goverments brought a new form of NATO into effect, however it was to replace it more than update it, it came to be known as the Earth United Defence Force, which had Allies from; *Great Britain *United State's *Spain *France *Germany *Poland *China *Russia *Italy However some Countries did not give their support to the EUDF, and remained out of it, thus making EUDF rely mainly on those inside its Formation. Since Britain was part of who made it, it made little differance to the British, and they relied on their own Force's, and believed they would only need to use the EUDF if ever there would be a war, and so Britain expanded its borders beyond Earth, soon locating Ryso V, a vital location within the Lauis Sector. British Controlled Colonies and Regions The British Goverment believed it best if it expanded its borders in secret, using the new SR-2 Series to increase their range of Exploration to begin Colonies in what where once Republic Controlled Territories but abondoned due to Mandalorian Threats raising, one of the new Worlds the British took control of was Coruscant, however they did not attempt to re-build it, and instead waited until they had supplies sent to Coruscant which they had named it as Alsamus. Dur the expansion of the British Territory in the Larger Galaxy they met many new spiece's, some they where forced to invade, others welcomed them. Planets controlled by the British where; *Ryso V (Lauis Sector) *Coruscant (Known to the British as; Alsamus) *Tatooine *Telos IV *Dantooine *Naboo *Lehon *Renvi VII (Lauis Sector) *Alsodos (Lauis Sector) *Jesery I (Lauis Sector) *New Britain II (Lauis Sector) *Third Britiania (Andrastay's Sector) With new Regions under control of the British, some of its people believed it to be making a new Empire, wanting to reclaim power which it lost during the War of Independence against America, however that is not the true case of what Britain is aiming for. Back to an Empire (22nd Century) As of 2142 AD, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland once again declared itself an Empire, now having full control over the Larger Galaxy, owning several Key Core Worlds, and many Outer-Rim Worlds along with Planets across the Mid-Rim, Inner-Rim and Wild Space, Britain even held planets into the far reaches of the Unknown Regions all due to the British Explorations to search for the Sith which had retreated since the Great Galaxy War that was between the Order of the Gray, British Colonial Force's and the Sith Empire. With the British controlling most of the Larger Galaxy, it became known on Earth as a Superpower, becoming stronger than the United States, however the Political Leaders offered aid in order for America to expand its own borders outside Earth. Eventually the British Empire and United States of America where equal in Power, and they both became the soul Superpowers on Earth. ''Rise of Franco-Germany When the Franco-German Nation began to expand, the British Empire allowed it to attack locations that where not part of New NATO, believing it wouldn't present any true threat, but due to the bad choice made by the Acting Priminister, the Nation was a full power, and launched attacks all across Southern, Western, Easter, Central and Northern Europe as well as sending force's into Asia that borded Europe, and also sent force's towards South America to claim more land. With such a powerful force now in place, Great Britain is pledging to those in the Franco-German controlled terrtirories that the British will launch a full-scale war to defeat the Franco-German Nation, or risk the world falling into complete chaos. Britain eventually saw its own personal needs for revenage after Franco-German Soldiers invaded Blackpool and slaughtered people while they where in Hospitals, as well as civilians in their homes, this brought the entire British Empire to the point of absolute Power, calling every able body into the War to attack the Franco-German Nation in order to give them the same treatment that they gave the British when they invaded Blackpool. ''War against Franco-Germany'' The British waged war against the Franco-German Nation, eventually cutting it in half due to the Invasion of France, this led to the Re-Formation of the New Neo-Nazi German Nation. Due to the Victory in France, the French Rebel's joined the Allied Force's to campaign against Germany. ''War with Germany'' With Franco-German cut in half, and now only called Neo-Nazi Germany, the British Empire spread through Europe, waging War against RAAF Alined Countries. Eventually the British Empire would see victory against the Neo-Nazi German's but also see the start of a new War, like the U.S, when the Imperium Order launched a Mass-Betrayal against the Assassin's, bringing the entire Hashshashin Order to its demise, and only a few managed to survive. Rise and Fall of the World - 22nd Century At the end of the Fourth World War, the World entered another War; The Imperium War a war that was much like a Cold War, however this was the Rise and Fall of Earth's Humanity, with the Imperium Order claiming control over almost every nation; except a small few, the World began fighting each other in a quest for control and balance, and due to the Mass-Betrayal against the Assassin's, there was nothing to fight against the Power of the Imperium other than Rebel Government. However since the British Nation was being controlled by the Imperium like the United States, the British saw only a quest for domination (Like the Imperium controlled United States). ''Power of an Empire - 23rd Century Around the 23rd Century, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland was again claimed itself to be an Empire once more, and declared its new Laws within the Larger Galaxy, prefering its Own Idea's to the Idea's of the EUDF and other Earth Nation's. They also recognised the Independence of the United Colonial Nation's in the Larger Galaxy, but they would eventually go to war after the UCN attacked the Galactic Meeting of Congress. ''Territories As an Empire once again, the British held several Territories which expanded its borders to the point it was unmatched; *Deep Core **Earth - Europe, Great Britain **Tython *Core Worlds **Coruscant **Alderaan *Inner Rim **Bestine IV **M4-78 **Ambria *Mid-Rim **Boz Pity **Concord Dawn **Codia *Outer Rim **Tatooine **Dantooine **Mandalore **Geonosis *Colonies **Unknown *Wild Space **Kamino *Unknown Regions **Unknown Military and other Divisions: Military Divisions: *British Armed Force's (Earth Based) *British S.A.S (Earth Based) *British Naval Force's (Ground/Earth Based) *British Galactic Marine Corps *British Droid Division *British Armour Division (Earth Based) British Divisions: *The Fifty Colonies (Similair to the Thirteen Colonies) *The Scots Outer-Space Exploration and Navigation Group *English Defence Formation *Irish Colony Science and Building Formation Allies: *The United State's of America *The Kingdom of Spain *New NATO *Old EUDF *The Imperium Order ''The Fallout War'' The New British Empire fought on two fronts during the Fallout War, on Earth and the Larger Galaxy, this caused great strain on the Empire, but they kept up the fight to ensure victory, they also fought against other Earth Nations if ever they got in the way. ''Post Fallout War Following the defeat during the Fallout War, the British Empire crumbled from the inside after discovering the Priminister; Henry was infact the leader of the UCN. After the war ended in 2245 AD, the Planet Earth fell into massive conflict; the Fallout War had ended, but only to start the Exstermination War, a War dedicated to destroying the Earthlings chance's of getting back into the Larger Galaxy, the UCN invaded and attacked every Nation, taking Valuble Research and Technology, when Britain was in Ruins, the UCN attacked to ensure it remained that way. Eventually after the War, the Earthlings began re-building, and once ready they launched an attack on the Larger Galaxy once again; 2402, but the Earthlings where defeated, and the UCN came back to Earth and not only robbed the Tech once again along with Research, but they began a Planetary Wide Bombardment, disintergrating Cities in seconds, this led to the Complete collapse of civilization on Earth, no nation was left once the Bombardment ended, what survivor's there was dedicated their lives to attempting to build. Britain was finally re-formed after 2678 AD, and it went to Ireland to begin a Restoration Project but found warring tribes, and they made an attempt to Ally with them, by 2678 AD the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was once again formed, and they worked to Build what was destroyed. By the year 2920 AD the British Nation was once again full re-built, its Armies Ready, and led by the Royal Families and a Stable Government, they then used the new Transport to get across the Ocean to visit the American Continent wishing to see weither it was destroyed or in the process of being Re-Built, upon Arrival they where greeted by the President of the Re-Formed United States, who agreed to an Alliance with the British. Together with the Americans they began a European and North American Wide Restoration, eventually coming to a War with the New Roman Empire, however they had only just been able to use M1 Garands again to engage in wars with, but they where still not as effective as the Pre-Galactic Conflict Versions. 34 Century, the New World'' The British Nation, one of the most valued Nations in the United Nation's Council, also a major participant of the Resource War within Europe, and some battle's which spread into Asia, North America, Central and South America. The British nation is also one of the advanced Nations within the 34th Century. Category:Factions Category:World Powers Category:Empires Category:Galactic Based Conflict Factions Category:British Aligned